Skyline Arch: Yay or Nay?

I've been out bumming around Arches again and revisiting some favorite old spots. Skyline Arch has always been one of my favorites but I really haven't created any images there I'm crazy about. I found this today and I think I like it, but I'm not entirely sure. I'm posting it here for your opinions, good or bad.

Note: I screwed up the hyperfocal point and this isn't sharp all the way through. Hard to tell at this size but the background is soft. So, if this gets a thumbs up I'll have to go back and get the focus right.

Thanks for having a look and leaving a comment.

5D2, 24-105mm lens

Something about the base of the tree doesn't do it for me. Wonder how this would look if you did it in horizontal format, loosing the bottom half of the tree, instead of a vertical format?? Just throwing out an unconventional idea.

Well, here's the deal, Brett : My initial reaction was 'hey this is cool, nice wild looking tree and great orange colors in the arch behind...neat" All is well...then i started thinking like a hypercritical photographer: "what the heck is this arch doing behind the tree?" The longer i looked, the more uncomfortable with the comp i feel--it just feels a bit forced to me. So, sorry, my Simon Cowell vote has to be a reluctant nay My suggestion, fwiw (a nickel, this time) is to go back and use the same 2 subjects, which are cool independently, but make the positioning look a little less contrived/more natural.

Thanks, Doug & Stan.

Stan: I did shoot one composition with the tree as a foreground and the arch in the background but the tree kind of got lost in all the scrub and red dirt. It just didn't stand out as well as it should. I think I'll go back and play some more. Always good to have an excuse to go back.

I think it's one of the more original Skyline Arch shots I've seen. I say run with it.

I'm not sold on it...sorry. I get confused on whether I should be looking at the tree or the arch. Also most of the arch wall is hidden by the tree. Maybe a different angle would help.

Bret, for me, this composition makes the tree the primary subject, but I doubt that is your objective.

This image is all about the tree to me as well. The arch is a minor, but interesting background subject. This probably not your intention. Perhaps if you backed-off a bit more from the tree it would work?

I like the intent, but feel that the execution is wrong.
Looks like the tree and immediate dirt foreground were subject to a shadow/highlight type application. Perhaps letting them go darker or even near silhouette would lessen the tree becoming the primary subject.
Glad to see you exploring new ways to shoot some difficult to properly compose arches. Your take on Landscape Arch was a complete success.

Bret, I have to agree with some above, in that the tree becomes too much of an overpowering foreground element. I prefer to have a foreground that does not take up so much of the scene. That said, if your focus is the tree, then I say roll with that, but don't cut off any of the limbs. Back up a bit and capture the rest of the tree in the frame. Just my 2c.

Thanks for all the honest thoughts, folks. My reaction to the tree base is the same as yours - maybe a bit too much. There are lots of trees like this in the area and maybe one of them will work better. Bummer, guess I have to go wander around Arches again some time.

Bret.... what an amazing tree!! Beautiful details and light... as for this being an arch shot...I am not sure about that since a viewers eye find it last and the tree first but this is a keeper....great job...

I'd say nay, though it's a good idea and maybe if you kept working with some variations of the comp I think you could probably have a killer shot. The problem I see is that I can't decide if the tree or the arch is the main subject. They seem to be competing with each other rather than complimenting each other.

I like it, and I say continue to work it next time you are there.

If you had blurred out the tree and left the arch in focus I think it would have been an interesting shot.